Thirty-eight years after Iraqi forces dropped chemical weapons on Sheikh Wasan village, killing 211 civilians – mostly women, children and elderly – the same streets are now lit by clean, off-grid solar energy.

The transformation is the work of the Rwanga Foundation and its founder, Idris Nechirvan Barzani, a young Kurdish businessman and philanthropist who has quietly become one of the region’s most active advocates for renewable energy in post-conflict communities.

On 16 August 1987, Iraqi aircraft and artillery bombarded the Balisan Valley with mustard gas and nerve agents in what is recognised as the first chemical attack against Kurdish civilians – a full eight months before the better-known Halabja massacre. Survivors were rounded up, families separated, and many children died in detention camps.

Today, 72 solar systems – 432 high-efficiency panels in total – power every home, the mosque, the school, the health centre and the Martyrs’ Hall in Sheikh Wasan. For the first time in decades, the village of 281 returned residents has reliable 24-hour electricity.

“These villages paid the heaviest price under the former regime,” Idris Nechirvan Barzani said. “Providing them with clean, sustainable energy is the least we can do – not as charity, but as restitution and an act of justice.”

Since 2013, Rwanga Foundation has focused on neglected rural communities, and transformed them into fully solar-powered communities, creating local jobs in installation, maintenance and small-scale agriculture that reliable power now makes possible. The Sheikh Wasan project is the latest in a string of initiatives to promote sustainable development in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Survivors and their descendants welcomed the new panels as a tangible sign that their suffering has not been forgotten. “We lost entire families to the gas,” said one resident who asked not to be named. “Now our children study under electric light and we can store our produce all year round. This is justice in the form of sunlight.”

Human rights groups have long called for greater international support for Anfal survivors. The solar project, funded entirely through private Kurdish philanthropy, highlights how local initiative is filling the gap left by Baghdad and the international community.

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Is COP30 intentionally confusing and opaque so the public can’t see how Global North countries and big polluters block real climate action. This is the argument of Rachel Rose Jackson, Director of Climate Research and Policy at Corporate Accountability. Behind closed doors, she asserts, wealthy nations avoid paying climate debt while expanding fossil fuels, and fossil fuel lobbyists flood the negotiations. The result is an artificial COP bubble disconnected from real-world climate crises, designed to protect polluters rather than people.

Here is her piece.

“If you’re finding it almost impossible to track and understand the finer details of what is happening across the negotiating rooms of COP30, you are not alone. It’s tediously technical, and at best very confusing. This is by design. It’s all part of a carefully orchestrated plan to distance every day humans from what happens here, to construct veils of secrecy, and to create a fake, alternate universe that spurs a complete disconnect from the reality of the world that we’re all living and the climate crisis that we’re all experiencing outside of these halls.

This is an intentional plan to distract and distance from the typhoons that are currently happening in the Philippines while we are here, where hundreds of people are dying, and many activists here are not even sure if their families are safe or if they’ll come home to a community that was the same as when they left. This is a plan to create intentional disconnect from the trillions of dollars that are being spent annually on war and fossil fuel violence in places like Palestine. From the wildfires, from the floods, from the grabbed lands, from the harm caused all around the world by the very same actors that are here creating this disconnect.

It is not a coincidence that it is so difficult to track the inner workings of COP30. This carefully orchestrated illusion is crafted by the very same countries that are most responsible for climate change and most responsible for the past three decades of blocking progress to address it. I’m talking about Global North– the countries whose economies have gotten rich off fossil fuels, extracting and burning and profiting at the expense of people across the world, particularly Global South communities, frontline communities, and Indigenous Peoples.

In clearer terms, here’s what’s happening behind the doors of COP30. The systematic denial of the trillions of dollars that is overdue in climate debt by the Global North to communities in the Global South who are hit hardest and worst. This debt is not charity, it’s not kindness, it’s owed, and it’s long overdue. There’s then the thorough withdrawal of all other forms of meaningful finance that have the chance to become public and people-centered, on one hand, and the rolling out and ramping up of carbon markets and other ‘carbon finance’ schemes that allow the Global North and Big Polluters to continue profit off of polluting the planet. And then, the pretense of the TFFF, which is riddled with loopholes and is another attempt to profit off of nature. All of this while at home, these same Global North countries are proclaiming climate championship while doing very little to decrease emissions or to do their fair share of climate action. Instead, they are actually scaling up fossil fuel production.

Last week, research by Oil Change International showed that just four Global North countries have derailed an oil and gas phase out since the Paris Agreement. This quartet increased their oil and gas production by 40% between when the Paris Agreement was agreed and last year. In this same period, the rest of the world had a combined oil and gas decrease of 2%. These planet wrecking climate blockers are Canada, Australia, Norway, and the United States.

Which brings me to the United States. They’re not at COP30, right? Incorrect. Let’s be clear, the United States has always been the largest blocker of climate action at home and abroad, the largest polluter, and the biggest bully. They may not be officially at COP30, but they are very much undermining action. And the fact that they don’t have an official delegation doesn’t change that.

The United States is here as the biggest donor to the World Bank, which is now the interim trustee and host of both the TFFF as well as the Loss and Damage Fund. So they hold the purse strings to some of the biggest parts of climate action. And at home, they’re also using tariffs and economic sanctions to weaponize climate action and to prevent other countries from being able to take the action they need domestically to respond to the climate crisis. So the US is very much here. They’ve taken off the gloves and they’re ready to throw down, as are their other fight club buddies Canada, Australia, Norway, and the EU.

In addition, it’s also really important we understand that it is not only countries who are being invited to COP30 to do dirty. Kick Big Polluters Out just released exposing that there are more than 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30. Thats means 1 out of 25 participants is advancing a fossil-fueled agenda, outnumbering delegates from the Philippines from 50 to one and delegates from Jamaica 40 to one. Big Polluters are overrunning this place. They are everywhere. They’re whispering in the ears of delegates. They are in rooms that even civil society doesn’t have access to. And just 90 of these oil and gas corporations that have attended COP26-COP29 are responsible for nearly 60% of oil and gas production in 2024.

So as we head into the final days of these critical talks, and while the climate crisis impacts people all around the world, we want to know what are Big Polluters doing here? And if Global North countries aren’t getting serious about doing their fair share of climate action, why are they wasting our time? As the window COP 30 starts to wind down, so-called world leaders mustIt’s time to step up. It’s time to Kick Big Polluters Out. It’s time for Global North countries to do their long-overdue fair share of climate action, to justly end fossil fuels, and to crack open that disconnect between the real world that’s outside these halls and the carefully orchestrated artificial universe inside these halls.”

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THE CORD

A personal view by H. Masud Taj, 1980

A flight of wide stone steps. Through the ages its centre has flattened into a ramp. By the side, an ancient structure, the colour of sand, and ahead in the hazy heights the citadel touching the sky.

Turning left into a short lane, dusty and unpaved — urchins playing about in the nine o’clock heat. A little further, a massive wooden door. There is no knocker or bell so I push and it opens rather smoothly.

It is dark and cool. My eyes adjust; I am in a courtyard a Thousand and One Arabian Nights in its details. I call out the name of Hassan Fathy; no one answers. There is an earthen pot in the centre and a low arch opposite. Through it, I emerge into another courtyard, cooler and less dark.

By a stairway sways a slim white cord. I pull. Somewhere above a tinkling sound. Bells. I had heard them all through my travels. In the remote islands of Yugoslavia at the stroke of every hour; the electrically-controlled bells in Ronchamp, France; low octave ones round the neck of Swiss cows, and the usually out-of-tune Big Ben.

I pull again, and again the delicious sound. Yesterday I was in Athens, in the library of Doxiadis leafing through magazines and papers. I came across an article on bricks. It was simple and refreshing. The author was Hassan Fathy. I got his address from the librarian, it was in Cairo. Although Egypt was not on my schedule, I decided on impulse to visit it.

I pull the cord again. Perhaps he isn’t at home, but I decide to linger awhile. There is a serenity about this courtyard which I want to soak in before facing the Cairo outside — chaotic, dusty, exuberant, abounding with life and people.

I pick up a piece of paper and address it to Fathy. I am a student in search of Architecture. I’m here for two days and will be leaving tomorrow evening. I am engrossed in writing and look up to find him next to me. I greet him in Arabic and spontaneously hand over the note. He smiles. Although nearing eighty there is a childlike innocence about him. Immaculately dressed in earthy browns, it is his eyes that impress – dreamy and very expressive. I was wrong about leaving the next evening. I stayed for a month.

THE MUSICALITY

The Garden City is a modern zone in Cairo. On the map, it appears like a tangled mass of rope that some town-planner forgot to pick up. Once inside you lose all sense of direction.

Fathy and I are heading for the Arab League’s Headquarters. “What a mess,” he tells me. “These streets, like the car, are ambiguous — you can hardly tell the front from the rear. For town-planning, look at the trees. See how the main trunk flows into branches, twigs, stems, and veins of the leaf — there is hierarchy and you know where you are.”

He pauses. “Academic training is nonsense, schools turn out student machines with no imagination. It took me ten years to purge myself of it,” he says. Again the leaf, before it joins the twig there is the stem — the stem is the transition; like the musician who moves from the mode to the melody — there is a system of connection. In fact, I’m trying to introduce musicality in the teaching of town-planning in schools. A music composition has more to do with melodies than with scales; likewise, architecture is more to do with space than with shape — it is the space between the walls and not the walls themselves.

Music is important to Fathy; someone told me that he is an able violinist. In the first few days, he said he had difficulty getting accustomed to the musicality of my voice — I suppose he meant my accent. One night after dinner Fathy put a Brahms on the stereo. The western classical was not out of place in the Arab setting. He then sat down and continued to work on a township he was planning around the oasis of El Kharga. He worked late into the night. I watched. I began to understand through his drawing what I had been unable to grasp in his words.

THE GLASS BOWL

We speed towards the ancient city of Alexandria in a black six-seater. Fathy has designed a house there which I think he particularly likes. Perhaps that is why he wants me to see it. We pass a factory, a concrete box squatting uneasily in the desert sand. Fathy looks away — he does not like what he sees, and I understand.

There were certain areas, however, where I tended to disagree with his viewpoint. To give an instance, there are many structures in the West which I have seen and for which I have regard. I like Corbusier’s Ronchamp Chapel very much and he does not. Fathy also feels strongly about the car. The man behind the wheel, he says, is reduced to a mechanist being.

“But,” I interrupted, “were it not for the car it would have been impossible for us to go all the way to Alexandria to see a house you’ve designed, and return the same day.”

“Not so,” he smiles. “In that case, the house would never have been that far, it would be within a radius of half a day’s walk and then we would be strolling through breezy lanes and trees instead of being confined in a machine for three hours.”

The house; like all Fathy’s houses, is remarkably cool. The mud-brick dome is pierced with round holes that have colored glass panes. When I climb to the top of the dome I find them to be merely colored glass bowls that were fixed inverted, covering the holes. I had seen them being sold in plenty by the street side, in Cairo’s crowded bazaars. From dusty pavements to the top of the dome — such transformations are characteristic of Fathy’s style. The interior of the house is bare. Fathy is asking the caretaker what has happened to all the curtains, tapestries, and carpets. The man gives evasive answers — it is clear that he is behind it all. But Fathy does not accuse, only his eyes show his surprise. He is hurt. And so it has been throughout his life. If it is not the officialdom, it is the petty thief.

When we leave, Fathy asks me what I think of the house. I tell him, also saying that it needed looking after.

“And yet noble,” he adds. When we reach the road, a short distance away, I can no longer see the house. It is hidden by a dune.

THE NICHE

Fathy’s diet is ascetic but he dines like a king. The cutlery is a good example of Turkish silver craftsmanship. The translucent dishes and bowls, I think, are Alexandrian. Chicken broth with breadsticks. Followed by sweetened guavas. And a red sherbet from Sudan made of dried petals. We eat in silence, his cat Mish-mish at our feet. In the wall behind him is a niche with a lamp. The niche is covered by a hinged traditional wooden screen (mushrabeya) which diffuses the light. When he needs more light he simply opens the screen. Next to it is one of Fathy’s miniature paintings.

My eyes are on it while I eat. I find it puzzling. It shows a dome and vaulted building as seen from the front, and yet the courtyard of the same building is as if viewed from the top. Both viewpoints in the same scene. “Is that building in plan or elevation?” I ask Fathy.

He does not like my question. “That is irrelevant,” he says. Through subsequent discussions, I began to understand. A perspective views the world from a particular standpoint and in doing so imposes its own order. Things appear big or small, important or trivial depending on the relative position of the viewer. It is subjective. The miniature painting, on the other hand, is ‘realist’ in the sense that it strives to capture the essence of things and not merely their appearances.

A week later Fathy gives me the keys to his house in Gourna, where I stay for some time before moving in deeper into the Valley of the Dead. There I come across the ramped Temple of Deir El Bahri with a backdrop of a sheer rise of limestone mountains and the intense blue sky above. In its colonnade, I notice a bas-relief. It shows Queen Hatshepsut’s ship as viewed from the side with a row of oarsmen dipping their oars in the water which with its variety of fish swimming in it all shown as if viewed from above. Both viewpoints in the same continuous scene.

THE TWILIGHT

It is one of my last meetings with Fathy, and he is rather silent. The sun begins to set. “Come,” he says, “I shall show you my piece of sky.” The sight from his terrace is stunning. The house is at a height and we stand level with the top of the gigantic ancient mosques. The sun’s rays are bursting from behind a minaret.

“The Earth must meet the Sky,” he says, “the body with the soul. Look at the crestings running upon the length of the wall. The shape of their Earth-mass is a replica of the shape of the sky-void between them. The shape itself is that of a tri-foil lily (brides of the sky’ the Arabs call them). With the cresting, the contact is made on an individual level, with the minaret it is on a community level.”

The sky was now a spreading red, the silhouette of the mosques and minarets stood defined dark and powerful. “See how the minaret accelerates your vision upwards. It is divided into sections that rhythmically shorten the higher you go, like an accelerando in music. And the sections keep getting narrower and their shapes also change — from square to octagonal to cylindrical, adding to the acceleration.”

Fathy talked on till twilight merged into darkness and the stars gathered their intensity.

A personal view by H. Masud Taj, 1980, Inside Outside Magazine. Reprinted with permission. 

H Masud Taj is an award winning adjunct professor at Azreili School of Architecture & Urbanism with both his studios and seminars being premised on the ethics of alterity. His lecture courses at Carleton’s Centre for Initiatives in Education are on topics of Muslim Civilizations. He delivered the Keynote Address on the Ka’aba at the 2nd International Conference of Islamic Art and Architecture, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi and was the series’ invited speaker in Lahore and Isfahan (he has since circumnavigated the globe on a lecture-tour). He has delivered annual talks on the occasion of the Islamic History Month Canada (2017-2021); including a cross-cultural reading of Leonardo da Vinci in a triad series during Carleton University’s Cinquecento Celebration. His involvement with the ‘other’ extends to animals: his book Alphabestiary (with exegesis by Bruce Meyer) featured at the International Festival of Authors in Toronto 2011.

His post-professional dissertation analyzed insightful moments of “the other ” in scholarship, chess, films and architecture via the oeuvre of Stanley Kubrick. As an architect licensed in India, he was mentored by the visionary Hassan Fathy in Egypt, and as a calligrapher by the Italic master David Hosbrough. His book on Nari Gandhi (2009) apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright, is archived in MacOdrum Library’s Special Collections while his intercultural and interdisciplinary tri-lingual book Embassy of Liminal Spaces (2009), that synthesized his poetry, calligraphy and architecture, is a permanent installation at Canadian Chancery in Bangalore, India and inducted into the Library of Parliament, Canada.

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Environmental artist and sustainable designer Pablo Solomon lives in Texas, but he has roots in the Middle East. We need a spiritual transformation to change our planet’s greed, he says in response to Saudi Arabians not responsible for dry Arizona water wells. Below are Solomon’s ideas on safeguarding America’s and our planet’s water:

Water rights, ownership, stewardship, etc. are among the most complex issues we face.
Like almost all other laws we have, if people were honest, moral, fair and not so damned greedy no water laws would be necessary.

 
However, greed and exploitation seem to be part of the dark strand of human DNA? I contend that the big sin that Adam and Eve committed was as much greed as disobedience. God gave them everything they needed and only wanted them to refrain from one fruit—but no– they just could not resist.
 
I live on an historic ranch in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. We are in a region of Karst Topography which means limestone with a lot of springs and caves. However, we do not have the bountiful layers of underground water that you find along the coastal regions of Texas unless you drill very deep wells.
 
Our ranch has a wonderful spring. We drink the water and it is both tasty and healthful. It comes out of the ground at about 68 F year around–which in the 100 F Texas summers is a delight. We use only what we need and thank God for every drop. We collect rainwater and reuse our greywater. We have natural grasses that are drought resistant. We do not over-graze. When properly managed– cattle, goats and sheep can live in harmony on the natural grass and plants.
 
People by the hordes are leaving the deplorable conditions of the Texas big cities and those of other states created by mismanagement, over taxing, crime, pollution, etc. This in addition to the thousands a day crossing the border with Mexico.
 
This puts a strain on everything from water to education to health services to first responders, etc. Our area is trying to adjust and deal with this rapidly changing situation. It is hard to grasp just how fast this is happening. Big ranches are being bought up and divided into subdivisions. The very wealthy are putting in resorts and wineries.

So water is the big issue. Not only from new wells, but also from properties along rivers that have water rights going back 300 years to Spanish land grants that were reserved when Texas became an independent Republic in 1836 and when it joined the Union in 1845.
 
So some Texas counties are requiring wells to be registered and monitored and—of course—taxed.
This is a dilemma for those of us who hate government interference, believe in personal freedom and personal responsibility– but recognize that the greed of some is putting the total water supply in danger.
 
So I continue my battle to promote natural agriculture: growing crops where they should be grown –– not where enormous amounts of water must be provided from underground sources. Texas cities are expanding over some of the best farmland on the planet. Houston, which sits on the world’s best soil and has an abundance of rain now stretches 100 miles from one end to another and still expanding. This is pure ignorance.
 
We must desalinate sea water, collect dew, recycle water, etc.
 
The Native Americans lived by the springs on our ranch for at least 8,000 years and those down the road for at least 13,000 years. They did so by taking only what they needed and living in harmony with the land. Now people are watering their yards in deserts, pumping millions of gallons a day to process aluminum, polluting the rivers. While new technology will find some bandaids for the water crisis, it will take a spiritual revival to change greed and stupidity.

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The Middle East promises travellers from far and wide a whirlwind of captivating cultural and historical experiences that are sure to induce a sense of wanderlust. Boasting some of the world’s greatest wonders and a history brimming with age-old languages, traditions and unique heritage, the region sports some of the most iconic places to see and visit. Let’s take a look at some of the places in the Middle East worth travelling to and exploring.

Egypt’s Great Pyramids

While this may be a well-known tourist attraction, the Great Pyramids of Giza are a marvellous sight to behold. Claiming its spot as one of the old 7 Wonders of the World, the Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest structure among them all, but Egypt’s Great Pyramids offer more for culture vultures to bear witness to. Be sure to visit the 3-pyramid complex near El Giza, only a short while away from Egypt’s capital city of Cairo. The Great Sphinx of Giza is another must-see attraction. Even today, these awe-inspiring structures continue to perplex even the most qualified and experienced archaeologists and scientists. After all, how did human beings manage to construct such an impressive and challenging project without the tools used today?

The City of Jerusalem

The Old City of Jerusalem hails a spot on our list of the must-see places for all it offers eager globe trotters. While security presence peppers the outskirts of its religious sites, it only serves as yet another gentle reminder of the rich history that Jerusalem has. Home to a diversity of historical, cultural and religious attractions, Jerusalem delivers a cultivating experience to even the most discerning traveller. Must-see attractions here include the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Istanbul

East meets west in Istanbul, a breathtakingly beautiful destination that reaffirms its mighty position as the economic, cultural and historical heart of Turkey. Strategically located right in the centre of the Middle East and Europe, Istanbul is a unique compilation of culturally and historically significant sites that represent its ancient roots. The older side of its city is starkly contrasted by its modern-day attractions that beckon travellers to explore, ranging from vibrant street markets and towering skyscrapers to luxury palaces and trendy coffee shops.

Dubai, the City of the Future

While still a young city in its wealth and economic status, Dubai is steeped in history and innovation, with some of its most notable structures including the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building) and Ain Dubai (the largest observation wheel in the world). The Dubai Skyline is dotted with iconic skyscraper buildings, but the city also offers a more playful alternative to its visitors.

It features the world’s deepest scuba diving pool with a lost city at the surface, the Middle East’s largest integrated amusement park (Dubai Parks and Resorts), a diverse selection of international dining outlets, trendy beachfront attractions like La Mer, and the mind-blowing Palm Jumeirah, a man-made archipelago boasting celebrity chef-owned restaurants and luxury leisure attractions alike. Dubai is revered for its rapid transition from a humble desertscape that once carried its economy by pearl diving and the trading of textiles, gold, spices and perfumes to the booming metropolis that it is today, making it a definite must-see tourist destination for travellers of all kinds.

The Archaeological City of Petra

Located in the breathtakingly beautiful nation of Jordan, Petra continues to wow its visitors with its pink sandstone mosques, tombs, temples and palaces that give it the name of the “Rose City.” Its Greek-style temple called “Al Khazneh” is a well-known UNESCO World Heritage Site. Petra has grown in popularity over the years, even resulting in the newly formed town of Wadi Musa that welcomes world travellers and is a short and blissful stroll away from the temple grounds. Here is also where you can find hotels offering free shuttle services to visit the temple.

Travel insurance for your Middle Eastern Adventure

It’s no secret that visiting any international destination can be stressful due to potential delayed or cancelled flights, lost baggage, or medical emergencies, to name a few unforeseen inconveniences. Securing quality healthcare and avoiding lost expenses can be a challenging task. That’s why travel insurance is a popular investment to give you peace of mind wherever you go.

About Allianz Travel and Allianz Assistance

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The post Must-See Places to Tick off Your Middle East Bucket List appeared first on Green Prophet.

One of the most discussed subjects in the XXI century is environmental issues such as global warming, water, and air pollution, and biodiversity loss threatens all spheres of life on the planet and leads to irreversible changes in the ecosystems and resilience. A lot of educational institutions support environmental initiatives in order to become the “green” and address all-natural problems with such valuable resources as energy, water, and materials as they want to build a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly society. Universities grow the new generation, and it is crucial to lay the foundation in the minds of young people and develop the feeling of social responsibility and value of natural resources. Many of them define these demands and invest in greener buildings, products, and ways of engaging staff and students. In this article, you will find 10 of the best universities that support environmental initiatives.

Arizona State University

One of the leaders in the environmental initiatives and research of the ecological situation and climate changes in the USA. ASU takes serious commitment through the usage of circular resources, optimization of food and water consumption, collaborative and personal action, and awareness. It is also one of the first institutions in the United States that generated over 25 megawatts of solar energy. ASU is making an effort to accomplish carbon neutrality and become the largest research university in the area with the help of students’ desire to participate in learning this discipline.

Colorado State University

CSU is committed to the environment and global sustainability. In 2008, on the base of the university, was created a campus-wide school that addresses environmental challenges through broad research and other initiatives that welcomes students who are ready to make their contribution into environmental research and get the better of such issues as food and water security, poverty, inequality, energy, climate changes, biodiversity, globalization, industrial ecology, etc.

University of Maryland

At the base of the University of Maryland was established the center for Environmental Science and created the Environmental Sustainability Council that provides leadership, advice, and assistance in the enhancement of environmental sustainability. The students can research to understand the consequences of environmental changes on the usage of natural resources and the rehabilitation of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

American University

The American University develops the culture of sustainability through a number of outreach and student organizations. With green buildings that incorporate energy-efficient technologies, conscious consumption that involves zero waste, usage of solar energy, and increasing environmental awareness. The role of students in establishing an eco-friendly atmosphere and researching the environment is crucial. A lot of students are writing research papers and developing projects on this matter. Sometimes, it gets difficult to outline the findings and it is better to go to custom report writing to get help from the professionals. A lot of students’ research works were used to engage the community in the green initiative and raise the consciousness of the new generation.

University of California, San Diego

The UCSD makes efforts with environmental initiatives in multiple ways. The main goals include achieving zero waste, carbon neutrality, deliberate water, and food consumption, LEED certification for all new and renovated buildings. The university designed programs to educate students and employees on ways to make their daily work and living practices more sustainable.

Cornell University

Cornell University pays a lot of attention to eco-awareness and provides a lot of courses that teach the environment and sustainability issues and help to obtain the fundamental understanding of environmental science and environmental studies perspectives. There is a number of students’ groups that discuss the eco problems, energy-saving initiative, efficiency of powering, food expenditures and waste diversion.

Furman University

The university strives to create a sustainable future and pushes action for a minimization of environmental impact with the help of infrastructure changes, research, and sustainable food practices using the complex and holistic approach to the problems. 

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota at Morris includes a broad range of initiatives including renewable energy, zero waste, and sustainable construction and renovation. Students play a vital role in solving ecological problems and based on that, the activists established the Ecostation for education, research, and creative activities for investigating climate change, agriculture, and energy independence.

Appalachian State University

Sustainability in ASU is not a trend, but a habit because the university management is concentrated on giving the proper knowledge and developing the feeling of social responsibility in students, and broadcast these ideas via different communication channels such as Sustainability Podcasts, Sustainable Living Guide, Zero Waste Commitment, and University’s Strategic Plan.

Chatham University

One of the “green” universities that aim to initiate the students to launch the sustainability projects that will lead to carbon neutrality, decrease the total electricity usage and turn to renewable energy from solar panels, wind stacks, and turbines, eliminate the sale of plastic water bottles and change the transport to bikes.

The movement of being “green” is growing bigger and most educational institutions support the idea of being eco-friendly and grow the new breed of conscious people who are ready to re-think and change the planet for the better. Every university can become “green” with small steps such as using sustainable building practices, generating energy, waste disposal, and recycling, conscious consumption of goods and food, green transport, dissemination of information to increase the awareness of this subject. Our mission is to reconsider the attitude to the resources we have and make our small steps on the way to a greener planet.

Author’s bio: Paul Calderon works for ecology consultancy and writes articles for online resources. He also shares information about environmental initiatives within educational organizations. Paul participates in the volunteer programs as he really strives to learn more about climate and weather changes.

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It’s often forgotten that the harmful effects of smoking were only discovered during the 1950s and the 1960s. Over seventy years later, a colossal amount of research has come to the fore to emphasize the risks associated with cigarettes. At this point in time, we now know that there are no real benefits to smoking, perhaps besides the satisfying yet addictive nicotine rush that many people fall victim to.

With smoking often being referred to as a vicious cycle, it comes as no wonder as to why many people grapple with the idea of quitting. Fortunately, the impact of anti-smoking campaigns in the UK has continued to skyrocket in recent years, having offered millions of people encouragement to give up smoking. This support is only continuing to grow, and it seems as though the effectiveness of these campaigns remains to be promising. Smoker or non smoker, here are the UK’s most successful quit smoking campaigns that are worth knowing about.

PHE’s Health Harms Campaign

Launched in 2018, Public Health England’s Health Harms campaign released an informative video featuring an experiment which demonstrated the detrimental health effects of smoking in comparison to a non smoker or an e-cigarette user. The campaign heavily praises the use of vaping devices as an effective quitting aid, giving smokers the chance to possibly change their perspective on the usage of vaping devices. The campaign also offers several downloadable resources which encourage smokers to learn about the damage that cigarettes cause to our health.

Through their campaign, PHE states that some smokers can be deterred from using vaping devices due to personal fears regarding the safety of e-cigarettes. In fact, PHE revealed that many smokers believe vaping is as harmful as smoking, while others aren’t aware that e-cigarettes present a significantly lower risk to their health. On a fundamental level, the purpose of the Health Harms campaign is to disseminate the proven facts associated with both smoking and vaping, while offering a sense of reassurance from an authoritative standpoint.

Vapril

As part of vaping awareness month, VApril is an anti-smoking campaign focused on encouraging smokers to quit with one particular smoking cessation tool: e-cigarettes. The definitive health effects of vaping devices may still be unclear, but hopeful studies from the likes of PHE have claimed that e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes. With this optimistic fact held high, the campaign serves to educate smokers and non-smokers alike about the differences between vaping and smoking, and encourages avid vapers with success stories to speak out and help others.

VApril has been a hit among those committed to quit, with a recent poll of 2,000 people revealing that 74% of smokers were influenced to switch to vaping through the campaign. Certainly, what is even more encouraging to know is that over 3 million people have now made the decision to quit cigarettes and transition to vaping as an approved alternative.

Stoptober

Recognised by many, Stoptober is an annual NHS campaign in October with the purpose of persuading smokers to give up cigarettes for 28 days. In doing so, it’s hoped that participants will continue to cease their cigarettes usage, and eventually live smoke-free. It’s believed that if a smoker can quit for 28 days, they will be 5 times more likely to quit for the long term.

For those who are nicotine dependent, this may sound like an impossible feat. However, the campaign aims to instill motivation and courage into smokers through further support, including their official Stoptober app, a Facebook Messenger bot, daily emails, access to Stoptober online communities, as well as a personal quit plan.

Collectively, these resources can help smokers to receive personal support, inspiration, and even insights into how much money they are saving while separating cigarettes from their lives. This hugely influential quit smoking campaign has been running since 2012, and in this time, they have helped to free 2 million people from cigarettes.

Quit Together

In 2020, healthcare workers at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust launched the Quit Together campaign, which encourages smokers to “make a promise” to quit smoking to not just protect themselves, but those who they hold closest in their lives. The reasons for quitting smoking can span far further than a person’s individual health. For many people, their driving force for giving up cigarettes is for the health of others. Whether it’s for a pet, pregnant partner, or young child, having a personal motivating factor can often prove to be effective.

The campaign’s official website offers useful resources for helping smokers quit, as well as supportive messages and information regarding smoking’s complications with pregnancy, mental wellbeing, and physical health conditions. Their website also provides real stories from those who have successfully quit, allowing smokers to find determination again when the end of their journey seems far out of reach.

Studies have so far presented us with the evidence that those who smoke are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. In unity with the #QuitforCovid campaign, Quit Together also serves to educate people about the dangers of smoking and COVID-19.

“Don’t Wait” NHS Campaign

In early 2021, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Lothian joined together to create the “Don’t Wait” anti-smoking campaign with the goal of reminding smokers that it’s “never too late to change”. All too often, many of us fall into the trap of repeating the phrase “I’ll try again tomorrow.” Whether we say this by means of delaying a new diet, fitness regime, or our own professional development, staying with this mindset can prove to create a cycle of unproductivity and prolonged stress.

The TV led campaign features NHS respiratory consultant Dr Colin Church, who emphasizes the severe threat of COVID-19 for smokers, and highlights how a person’s health can improve as soon as they quit. After encouraging smokers to visit their local stop smoking service, the phrase “it’s never too late to quit smoking” is repeated again in the video. It’s expected that this message will resonate in those who have delayed their quitting journey for one reason or another, acting as a crucial sign that it’s time to change.

Author bio:

Jennifer Williams is a Staffordshire based copywriter with notable expertise in the travel, fitness and well-being sectors. While studying English and Journalism at Coventry University, she worked as a freelance copywriter for a variety of different industries and niches.

The post What are the UK’s Most Popular Quit Smoking Campaigns? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Around the world, ocean dead zones are growing at alarming rates, making entire swaths of underwater habitats uninhabitable by marine life. Most of this is directly tied to agriculture and the way in which it contributes to a completely different, but connected, problem: soil or land degradation. Media coverage of the growing dead zones has failed to explain how and why these sections of ocean are devoid of oxygen and life, but a quick glance at a map of affected areas reveals a telling picture: dead zones exist along the coast and can be directly tied to human activity. The culprit is the copious amounts of chemical fertilizer and livestock manure collecting in runoff and making its way down rivers and into the oceans. 

The Downstream Effect of Chemical Fertilizer 

This year, scientists predict the Gulf of Mexico could experience one of the largest dead zones in history; an astounding 8,000 miles of ocean, an area the size of Massachusetts, will be hypoxic (or devoid of enough oxygen to support any form of marine life). Any time a river crosses an agricultural landscape and then empties into a body of water, the runoff brings nitrogen and phosphorous which causes a massive algal bloom. The blue-green algae then suffocate the ocean. Ultimately, the marine life is starved of the oxygen it needs and can no longer inhabit these dead zones. 

This negative effect of chemical fertilizers and livestock runoff is often defended on grounds that the means justify the ends, that it is impossible to feed the world without chemical fertilizers and protein from animal agriculture. In fact, neither are a necessity, nor are they viable, long term solutions.

A Flawed Solution to Feeding the Planet  

Chemical fertilizers are used because of a lack of nutrients naturally present in degraded soil.  Land degradation is a process that begins when forests are initially cleared for agriculture and ultimately overfarmed or overgrazed until the carrying capacity of the land has dwindled. Once the original tree cover has been stripped from the entire piece of land, a slow death of desertification ensues as endless rows of a single crop (monocropping) are planted and harvested year after year, depleting the soil with every passing season. Most farmscapes around the world have long been degraded and denuded, leaving many farmers to resort to commercial fertilizers to meet their production expectations.

A monocrop field is left devoid of growth, protection, nutrients, and soil.

When fertilizers are applied to a field, much of it runs off the farm or percolates down through the soil. It not only changes the pH of the soil, it misses the roots of many plants. A small percentage of the nutrients find their way to the roots directly where plants take up the Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium directly. Bypassing the soil to nourish crops creates a dangerous dependence on chemical fertilizers and kills the soil in the process. After adopting chemical fertilizers, the only way for a farmer to continue having productive yields is to purchase more chemical fertilizer. 

In his book One Shot, Trees for the Future Executive Director John Leary identifies this rising dependance. 

“Farmers used to ensure that everything they took out of the ground was put back in, in the form of biomass (organic material). This created a closed-loop scenario, where phosphate would have the capacity to be reused up to forty-six times as food, fuel, fertilizer, and food again. On the other hand, when phosphorus, in the form of DAP, is applied to nutrient-starved soil, it has the capacity to be used only once. Excess amounts of DAP application run-off into streams, creating algae blooms that pollute water and kill fish and other animals.” (Leary, 48)

These unsustainable practices are the reason for an 8,000-mile stretch of ocean in the Gulf barely capable of sustaining any form of life. The current way of farming is wasteful, expensive, and it’s decimating land and sea biodiversity. We must transition from these degenerative practices to regenerative methods now.

Damaging practices like clearing and burning fields for monocropping make agriculture the number one cause of deforestation.

Healthy soils don’t need chemicals: Transitioning from degenerative to regenerative agriculture

Healthy soils are the basis of any agricultural system and are vital for providing crops with the mineral nutrients and moisture they need, when they need it. Enhancing the air, water, and organic matter in the  soil, and protecting all the beneficial organisms that live within it, will result in sustainably higher yields of better-quality crops, be it vegetables, field crops, fruits, or timber.

The solution is clear, cost-effective, and sustainable: Trees.

Instead of clearing fields, intensifying monocrop production, and ultimately degrading the land, agriculture focused on the power of trees (agroforestry) strives to protect the soil, diversify crops, and optimize the land sustainably.

The Forest Garden Approach is a well-planned, four-year regenerative methodology that uses the best techniques in agroforestry to guide farmers through the process of sustainably maximizing productivity.

Trees for the Future has 30 years of experience working with farmers to find innovative ways to revive degraded lands. That is 30 years of research and development, testing the most effective ways to use fast-growing trees to solve the most common and pressing problems farmers face. The Forest Garden Approach proves the power of trees.

“While chemical fertilizers contain just a few macro nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), trees pull a variety of macro and micro nutrients from the depths of the soil and recycle them into the topsoil through their leaves. These leaves contain nutrients that are essential for people’s health and which have long leached out of the soil – like iron, manganese, zinc, and boron. By tilling leaves into the soil, farmers begin to restore the soil with minerals that help plants grow and ensure healthy nutrient-rich food” (Leary, 54).

Healthy soils are the basis of any agricultural system and are vital for providing crops with the mineral nutrients and moisture they need, when they need it.

Most species in a forest have evolved to grow and flourish in the cooler, more humid understory of other trees. When an area has been completely deforested, new seedlings must have the ability to tolerate 12 hours of hot sun beating down every day. We have learned how to use fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing pioneer trees that start to revitalize highly degraded soils. They rain down large amounts of leaf litter that build the top soil, and their small leaflets decompose quickly. 

But the real magic happens in their roots. 

Not only do the strong tap roots plunge down into the soil seeking lost moisture and nutrients, but many trees in the Leguminosae family have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in their roots. 

The regeneration process – in fact, the origins of life itself – happens at a microscopic level in the roots of trees. Root hairs trap specific types of bacteria which then enter into the root cells. Over time the root develops a nodule containing a package of nitrogen that may feed the tree now or release the nitrogen in the soil making it available to other plants in the future. 

Trees for the Future teaches farmers how to plant diverse rows of nitrogen fixing trees (NFTs) across crop fields. Supplemented with compost and manure, this technique helps substitute and replace the need for chemical fertilizer. When farmers select NFTs that also produce fruit, peas or other valuable products the benefits are amplified.

A living fence of trees works double duty to protect the field from wind erosion and animals while the roots recharge the ground with water and nutrients.

The Forest Garden Approach is a well-planned, four-year regenerative methodology that uses the best techniques in agroforestry to guide farmers through the process of sustainably maximizing 

productivity. Farmers first learn to protect their field with thorny barriers so that they can plant many rows of nitrogen-fixing trees across it. The first round of trees planted begins to improve the growing conditions by cooling the land and trapping moisture. Within the improved micro-climate, farmers are able to grow more valuable crops and fruit trees. 

The third and final phase is when farmers learn to truly regenerate soil. They learn to make compost to enrich soil, mulches to conserve water, and cover crops to add organic matter. They learn to replace pesticides with non-toxic solutions, and they reduce their use of harmful chemical fertilizers. 

The Long Road Ahead  

It is visibly clear that ecosystems are dying across land and sea, and the reason is as equally apparent: the inputs and byproducts of wasteful food systems are the cause. If these systems are allowed to remain in place seafood will not be on the menu… there won’t even be a menu. 

Changing the entire way in which this planet grows, sells, purchases, and consumes food will be no easy task. Consumers have a responsibility to refuse to allow the status quo of big agriculture business to continue, and farmers have the duty and obligation to feed the planet in a healthy, nondestructive, and sustainable way. 

But if each actor can do their part to reduce consumption of meat and dairy, integrate trees into farming and livestock systems, and reduce the use of chemical fertilizer, life on land and sea has a chance. It won’t be easy, but it is necessary, so let’s get planting.

Trees for the Future is working to end hunger and poverty for smallholder farmers through revitalizing degraded lands. Learn more about Trees for the Future here. 

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Reboot’s National Day of Unplugging, an annual call for a 24-hour tech break, was launched as the smartphone was just emerging into popular use. Now celebrating its 10^th year on March 1-2, the National Day of Unplugging has been a leading voice for the unplugging movement and is needed more than ever. 

“Unplugging from your phone and computer for 24 hours isn’t easy,” said National Day of Unplugging co-creator Dan Rollman, a tech entrepreneur. “That kind of break is uncommon for us in today’s hyper-connected world. If you can do it though, it’s a wonderful way to recharge your spiritual batteries and be present with the world around you. It provides a healthy reminder of the benefits that come from taking an occasional respite from our devices.”

The launch of the National Day of Unplugging in 2010, was followed by the advent of digital detox retreats and a growing call from former tech executives for accountability by the companies they say have intentionally created a society of tech addiction. The annual celebration reaches hundreds of thousands of people every year, with the world’s most established brands, celebrities and media companies sharing the message and participating.

 Our phones are now with us everywhere – at dinner, in bed and in the bathroom. They are the third wheel and the third parent. The average smartphone user taps, swipes or clicks their phone 2,617 times a day, according to a study by Dscout, and the National Day of Unplugging offers an urgently needed escape from the relentless deluge of information emanating from the now ubiquitous and ever-present screens that dominate our daily lives.

 In 2011, just 35 percent of people owned a smartphone. Now about 77 percent do. And they use them constantly, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center study. The top 10 percent of users tap, swipe or click their phones 5,427 times a day. Dscout found, and most start doing that right when they wake up. Almost 70 percent of adults sleep with their phones by the bed. About 85 percent of smartphone users check their phones while talking with friends or family.

For one day, from sundown Friday, March 1, through sundown Saturday, March 2, the nonprofit Reboot is asking people to embrace the National Day of Unplugging to unplug for 24 hours and look up to remember what life was like before our digital devices went with us everywhere.

 The National Day of Unplugging recognizes the value and importance of technology in today’s world with the goal of encouraging people, especially digital natives who have grown up with ever-present technology, to be more mindful of their digital use. The day is not intended to be a one-off, but rather a starting point to encourage people of all ages to embrace a healthy lifestyle by regularly setting aside unplugged time.

 A growing number of the tech leaders who designed the device’s compulsive features have stepped forward in recent years to speak out against digital manipulation. Leaders like tech entrepreneur Roger McNamee and Tristan Harris, a former Google ethicist and founder of the Center for Humane Technology, are challenging the direction of technologies that are now overtaking our society. They are sounding the alarm on the data that is being collected from people and warning that the technology is having a negative psychological effect, especially on teenagers, and that many teens are suffering from digital addiction, cyberbullying and even slower brain development.

 People can participate in the National Day of Unplugging on their own or through partnerships that include The Second City in Chicago, collaborations with the Digital Wellness Collective and Let It Ripple, hundreds of schools around the country, and many more. On it’s website, at www.NationalDayofUnplugging.com, Reboot is offering ideas and a tool kit of tips to facilitate tech-free time. Additionally, individuals, families and friends are invited to participate in the “I/WE UNPLUG TO _____” campaign to publicly share what they like to do when not using technology.

With participation worldwide in 125 countries (including far-flung places such as the Bhutan, the Isle of Man, Mongolia, Andorra, and Kazakhstan), the NDU has resonated around the world with people of all backgrounds, from Catholic to Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim. The message has been embraced by a range of celebrities including Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, Jill Soloway, and Tiffany Shlain.

 About the National Day of Unplugging

The National Day of Unplugging has roots in the Jewish tradition of the Sabbath. This modern day of rest was developed in 2010 for people of all backgrounds as a way to bring balance to the increasingly fast-paced way of life and reclaim time to connect with family, friends and our communities.

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The most striking feature of Israel’s landscape is its variety. This tiny area has a dramatic desert in the South and the green Galilee mountains in the North. Two areas that are so different, but you can drive from one to the other in less than 3 hours.

Israelis love their country and love to walk its trails. The countryside is crisscrossed with an impressive network of clearly waymarked and maintained trails, covering the entire country. The combination of the pleasant weather outside the summer months, terrain that is not too rough and the solid infrastructure makes the county a great destination for hiking loving families.

DAY 1

A great place to start is the “Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve” (GPS 32.941606, 35.701637) in the Golan Heights. The Golan is a flat high plateau that drops steeply towards the sea of Galilee and the Hula valley. The soil is mostly basalt rocks originated from ancient volcanic activity. The result is a series of gorges with waterfalls, pools and water that flow all year round. Yehudia Nation park includes the 3 biggest and most attractive streams of the Golan heights. The Yehudiya, Meshushim and Zavitan streams. There is a large selection of trails to pick from ranging from very short up to 10 Km long. The reserve includes some of the best trails and some of the most beautiful pools in the Golan Heights.

DAY 2

Just about 1/2-hour drive south-west and we arrive at the Sea of Galilee. The lake marks the border between the Golan Height rising from its east coast and the Galilee mountains rising from the west. One of the classic hikes in northern Israel is to hike from the lake to the summit of Mount Arbel. Mount Arbel’s height is only 180 meters but is one of the most famous mountains in Israel. It rises very steeply, 380 meters from the Sea of Galilee and is considered by many the best view-point around the lake. From the summit, there is an amazing vista that includes most of the Galilee mountains, the Golan Heights and famous landmarks like Tiberias, Safed and the Horns of Hattin. The trail head is near the village of Hamam at (GPS 32.827706, 35.492245). It’s an 8 Km moderate circular trail. Besides the great view from the summit the route will bring you to the Arbel cliff fortress and the ruins of a 4^th century synagogue.

DAY 3

We are heading now 2 hours west towards the Mediterranean coast to Dor-Habonim nature reserve. GPS (32.642601, 34.924917). The 5 Kilometers strip that connects Moshav Habonim and Kibbutz Dor, is regarded by many people as the most beautiful coastal area in Israel. Additionally, it is very diverse. In this short distance it is possible to see marvelous small coves, an archeological site, an old ship wreck and the “Blue Cave”. There are several easy and flat trails to choose from between and 2 and 8 Km.

DAY 4

We continue our journey to Jerusalem (About 1.5 hours’ drive). Jerusalem is an amazing city for any tourist. It has something for everyone: History, Archeology, Arts, architecture, Night life, shopping and much more. But the fact that Jerusalem is also a great Hiking Hub comes as a big surprise to most people. While hiking is by no means the reason for visiting this great city, for a nature lover, to mix a day of hiking in between the city many attractions can be a great way to Spice-Up his visit. Less than 30 minutes’ drive east you will arrive to Wadi Qelt (Prat Stream) GPS (31.831305, 35.306738), Which is one of the most popular and rewarding hikes around Jerusalem. Wadi Qelt is a stream runs from the northwestern slopes of the Judaean Desert just outside Jerusalem and down to the city of Jericho. It’s one of the biggest and only sources of running water in the Judean Desert. The area has a long human history. While hiking you will pass ancient aqueducts and old monasteries. The deep canyon is full of springs, poos and waterfalls. A real oasis!! There are many variations for all hiking levels ranging from 3-20 km.

DAY 5

150 Km south and we arrive to the Negev desert. The Negev desert is the largest geographical area in Israel and offers a huge variety of hiking options. One of the best areas is the Zin valley at the Foot of Midreshet Ben-Gurion. GPS (30.850787, 34.778326). There are two very popular circuits. The tougher, 17 Km long, visits the magical desert spring of Ein Akev and the summit of “Hod Akev”, one of the most rewarding view points in the Negev. The easier but also beautiful option is Ein Avdat spring. There are several variations to choose from between 3-10 km.

DAY 6

Less than half an hour drive south, we arrive to Mitspe Ramon GPS (30.613430, 34.803775), situated on the edge of the Ramon Crater (Makhtesh). “Makhtesh” is a unique crater-like formation created by erosion. There are only 7 such craters in the world, all of them located in the Land of Israel (5) and the Sinai desert (2). Any hiker visiting Israel should include at least one of them in his itinerary. Ramon Crater is the largest Makhtesh in the world. Over 40 km long, 10 km wide and about 400 m deep. There are dozens of hiking trails in and around the crater to keep any hiker busy for a few days.

DAY 7

Two hours’ drive further south and we reach the touristic city of Eilat. The city is full of tourist attractions and restaurants, but it is also a great hiking hub. Within a short drive from the city you can find amazing desert hiking options. What makes the Eilat Mountains range unique is the contrast of colors. The sand and rocks change sharply between Black, Yellow and Red and in the horizon, you have in view the Edom reddish mountains and the deep Blue of the Red sea. Also here, there are countless options for all levels. Starting from the classic and easy “Red Canyon” (GPS 29.669201, 34.870346) hike up to tough deep desert tracks.

Visit “Israel by Foot” website for more Detailed descriptions and Hiking maps.

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